The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota

Takahiro Fujimoto

The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota

Takahiro Fujimoto

Description

What is the true source of a firm's long-term competitive advantage in manufacturing? Through original field studies, historical research, and statistical analyses, this book shows how Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the world's largest automobile companies, built distinctive capabilities in production, product development, and supplier management. Fujimoto asserts that it is Toyota's evolutionary learning capability that gives the company its advantage and demonstrates how this learning is put to use in daily work.

The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota

Takahiro Fujimoto

Table of Contents

PART I: Emergence and Functions of the Total Manufacturing System 1. An Evolutionary Framework for Manufacturing2. System Emergence at Toyota: History3. System Emergence at Toyota: Reinterpretation4. The Anatomy of Manufacturing Routines: An Information ViewPART II: Emergence and Functions of the Three Subsystems: Supplier, Development, and Production 5. Evolution of the Black Box Parts Supplier System6. Evolution of Product Development Routines7. Evolution of Toyota's New Assembly System8. Conclusion: Toyota as a "Prepared Organization"Appendix A. The Evolutionary Framework: Generic and SpecificAppendix B. The Basics of Toyota-style ManufacturingNotesReferencesIndex

The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota

Takahiro Fujimoto

Reviews and Awards

Winner of the Shingo Prize for Excellence

"This is much more than a book about Toyota or a book about manufacturing....The book contains important contributions to the theory and practice of organizational learning that will be equally interesting to the practitioner and the academic."--Journal of Product Innovation Management

"...the book reveals the ways a very successful, if not the most successful, automobile manufacturing company operates on various levels....useful for those in business."--Choice